


Getting In Tune

by Lia404



Series: Fix-it With Music [3]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Communication, Developing Relationship, Fix-It, Fluff, Goro is a tsundere, Guitar, Learning To Communicate, M/M, Music, Ren is a Disaster, Singing, Ukulele, violin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23845651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lia404/pseuds/Lia404
Summary: Being together doesn't mean they communicate easier, but it doesn't prevent Amamiya from trying very hard.It's the small gestures, Goro learns as he tries along.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: Fix-it With Music [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718110
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	Getting In Tune

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Discontinuous Qualia (Sechzehn)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sechzehn/gifts).



> Somewhere in the world today is still April 25, which means it's Discontinuous Qualia's birthday, so here' s a small present. I know we're both deep into music-related stories right now but can there ever be enough of these?
> 
> This is a part of the "Fix It With Music" series, that goes along with Qualia's Secret Santa present, and with my soon-to-come Shuake Big Bang contribution, but can be read as a stand alone, although it will make more sense if you read part 1 of the series!

“You know how... you said you couldn’t play the guitar? So I thought… maybe something a little easier? Less strings? Like...this?”

Goro sighed. To say he was uncomfortable with the whole situation was an understatement: standing before him was Ren Amamiya, a sheepish grin on his face, holding out a slightly battered ukulele wrapped in a bright red ribbon.

Goro didn’t even understand what Amamiya was trying to achieve here. It wasn’t a special day, but on a whim, the guitarist had shown up in the classroom with this unexpected present and a look on his face that said “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Well, Goro had no idea either.

“I am already very happy with the violin, Amamiya. Why would you…”  
“Will you call me by my first name already, Goro? It’s been a month.”

Goro flinched. It had been a month, indeed, since Goro’s unspoken admittance of his attraction for the other boy and their first kiss, and Amamiya had switched to calling him by his first name fairly easily in the first days of their relationship. It was as if he’d always thought of Goro as “Goro”, despite calling him “Akechi” for quite some time.

If only it were as simple for the former detective.   
Back when he was his famous self, his charming appearance, he could easily slip a cute “Ren-kun” in the conversation, knowing that would always be met with a bright smile.

Now though, the mere idea of uttering this name the way he did back then left a bitter taste in his mouth. He wasn’t that fake person anymore--he was just another student, a no-name with just a fair load of painful memories and things to deal with, among them, as it turned out, this slight enamoration with a very ridiculous former-thief now-guitarist.

Goro had always been good with words, so long as they didn’t have to match his feelings.  
There was a reason why he’d confessed through music. He was grateful Amamiya was quick-witted; it had only taken him weeks to understand what he was trying to convey.

God, but their relationship was a mess, wasn’t it?

“I… will.”

Goro clenched his teeth.

“I’m sorry, I will. I promise. Just, not yet? I just… well.”

And there. Where had all his amazing past eloquence gone? He could only convey either sass or embarrassment now.   
He averted his eyes and almost missed Amamiya’s slight understanding nod. How was the boy so patient with him? He kept marvelling. Goro felt awkward at most, but Amamiya kept coming to him, showering him with unabashed affection.

Patient, but ridiculous--the ukulele was still there, held towards Goro, and neither of them seemed to really know what to do of it. Talk about awkwardness.  
Goro thought it was probably his turn to break the tension. Amamiya had done the first steps, after all.  


“Where does that even come from?”, he asked, because maybe then he could figure out where to go from there.

“I found it in a second-hand shop, and I remembered you said you had troubles with strumming, and I thought it could be a good way to train…”

_ What if I didn’t want to train strumming _ , Goro almost answered.  
It wasn’t even that he didn’t  _ want _ to train. It was just that--he was bad at it. Goro didn’t like being bad at something, especially when he’d spent a long time trying to get better at it.  
Goro didn’t like failing.

He didn’t like the idea of failing at all this relationship thing, either, so he bit his tongue and just waited for the rest of the sentence.

“...it just, I saw it and it made me think of you…”

Well, way to make Goro blush in just a few words. Now he didn’t even know what to say.   
Amamiya had thought of him. Maybe just the same way Goro thought of him every time he train so he could master Le Poeme de Chausson he played so many times since then? Amamiya had thought of him. 

_Damn,_ _Goro, you’re in a relationship: you’re meant to think of the other. That’s how relationships work. You’re really a mess, aren’t you?_

Faced with Goro’s silence, Amamiya was rambling now.

“Also, you’re used to four strings! I thought it would be nice for you to have the same amount of strings, like familiar ground, you know?"  


Goro snorted and before he had the time to think, he blurted out:

“Amamiya, how do you tune a ukulele?”  
“Ah, it’s fairly easy. The strings are GCEA and…”  
“The violin is tuned with GDAE. It’s completely different.”

There, he’d done it again, foot straight in the mouth, spoken with snark, ruined the mood and now watching Amamiya’s face fall made his insides twist with guilt.

How to salvage this? Goro really couldn’t navigate through the whole  _ being affectionate _ …

How was he meant to manage? He didn’t know affection, except he knew it now because it was written all over Amamiya’s face and it was overwhelming and he didn’t want to lose it, he just didn’t…

“Play something for me?”

He just chose the cowardly way out, but also, it was the safest one: after all, without this, their relationship wouldn’t even exist. Somehow, music was a neutral place, something that had nothing to do with their history, and that still bonded them.  
It was, also, the most effective way to convey his feelings, he found.

Watching Amamiya nod with a shy smile and sit on the desk beside him, unwrapping the ukulele made him think he wasn’t the only one who was more comfortable with music than words at the moment.  
Amamiya settled the instrument in his arms, bringing it closer to his chest--a chest Goro had learnt was warm, comforting and welcoming, with a heart beating so strong against it when they hugged, but he couldn’t delve into it, not now, but maybe he should have just asked for a hug, and there, now he couldn’t help but think of it but Amamiya was now all ready and was casting him a nervous glance.

Goro shook himself and met his gaze. This seemed to fill the guitarist with resolve, and he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and started strumming.  
And singing.

[_"You’d think I shot their children  
_ _With the way they are talking..._](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVn1HJ4l0q4)"

The song was fairly simple, a regular four-chord, but Goro didn’t mind, mesmerized by the sight of the player.  
God, but how could Amamiya have such charisma despite the fact that he had such a small and slightly ridiculous instrument in hands? Despite the fact that he clearly didn’t know how to use his voice? How could he always wrap him around his finger just when he started playing?

The song went on with lyrics of misunderstanding and loss and pain, of the weight of other’s eyes on you, and how much more you could be worth, and Goro knew Amamiya hadn't chosen the song by chance, but he let himself get lost in the _meaning_ and the _intention_ and it was all slightly overwhelming.

It was a long song, and Amamiya fumbled with the lyrics sometimes but he went on, his eyes cast back on his fingers, focusing on what he played, a slight frown creasing his forehead. He went on for so long and sometimes his voice would slightly break, as if the words he was singing were too heavy to be carried.

The chorus twisted Goro’s guts, and when he reached the final lines, Amamiya raised his eyes to meet Goro’s and Goro stopped breathing and it was like the words were resonating between them both.

_ "We are so much bigger  
_ _ Than another one can ever see  
_ _ Trying is the point of life  
_ _ So don’t stop trying  
_ _ Promise me." _

Amamiya let the final chord die along with his voice, and lowered the ukulele, not breaking eye-contact. The silence grew between them, and Goro didn’t even know how to react--he had to say something, right? This was what was expected of him? How was he even meant to find his voice back after--after _that_?  


He let out a feeble, nervous laugh.

“Well… I guess you really can’t sing, can you?..”

Oh no. That absolutely wasn’t what he intended to say. Why did the worst words always came when… but before he could start delving in self-deprecation, Amamiya snorted.

“At least I’m trying… Ok, I can’t sing, but  _ you _ can. And I’m sure you can do fantastic things with the ukulele if you try. Will you?”

Amamiya was presenting him with the ukulele again. Goro hesitated.  _ If you try. _

“I… can try.”

Goro frowned, picked up the ukulele tentatively, uncertain. He was mostly left-handed, although he had trained on right-handed instruments, so he really didn’t expect to do fantastic.

_ Trying is the point of life _ , Amamiya had sung.

He steeled his resolve and turned to the guitarist.

“Can you teach me C, E minor and G?”

As patient as ever, Ren came and stood beside him, showing him how to hold the instrument, how to put his fingers on the neck according to the chords. The warmth of Amamiya's hands guiding his fingers on the instrument was distracting, but welcome. They didn't need words, just small gestures, it was so much more easier.  
Goro tentatively played the chords one by one, going round with them. They were fairly easy, and he got the grasp of them quickly.  
  
He still felt ridiculous, though. He still couldn’t strum. He just played the chords round and round.  
He thought he caught a glimpse of understanding in Amamiya’s eyes after he rounded the chords for the fourth or fifth time, and deemed it his cue.

It was no use lying to himself: he wasn’t good at playing. But Goro knew the power of his singing voice. He knew he could easily reach the high-pitched notes, he was confident in how velvety he sounded when he went lower. He wasn’t scared about it.

And Amamiya had been good at playing, but he wasn’t good at singing, and yet he’d sung for almost ten minutes a heart-wrenching song just so Goro would maybe accept to  _ try _ .

Goro could not give up after all that.

So he just  _ tried _ and placed the chords along with his singing, not daring to raise his head to meet Amamiya’s eyes.

C, E minor, G...

“ _ Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me _ _   
_ _ And after all,  _ _   
_ __ You're my wonderwall …”

It was only the chorus. It wasn’t like he could play anything else, but he did sing it with a clear voice, the words straight from his chest, hoping to convey how much he _tried_ , and when he finally dared meet Amamiya’s eyes, the other boy was beaming at him.

“You’re ridiculous. I can’t believe this is the first time you play the ukulele and you’ve already gone all  _ Anyway Here’s Wonderwall _ on me.”

And. Well. Goro had chosen the song because it was easy enough, and he knew Amamiya would get it, and also, it seemed oddly fitting, in all its cliché sappiness. 

“You’re ridiculous and I love you, Goro Akechi.”

And Goro still wasn’t really good with words, but he was getting better and better at recognizing feelings, and that warm feeling within him meant he had to put the ukulele aside, and turn to Amamiya for a hug. Right now.

He did so, and Amamiya wrapped his arms around him, one hand reaching to softly caress the hair falling on his neck.

“IloveyoutooAmamiya...Ren.”

He had just mumbled it. Very low. His face hidden in Amamiya-- _ Ren _ ’s shoulder. But he didn’t need to see the look on the other’s face to know that he’d heard him--the way the arms around him held him tighter told him everything he needed to know.

Goro lost himself in the embrace. Maybe he could manage this whole being in a relationship thing. And well, if it took being ridiculous with a ukulele… He could definitely try.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you had a wonderful day, Qualia. May the year to come be filled with lots of love and music headcanons for you! <3
> 
> (Also people please listen to [Amanda Palmer](https://www.youtube.com/user/amandapalmer) she's got amazing heartbreaking songs. And [**Play the ukulele!**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njDQsQpFIqA))


End file.
